Silent swans, River Crouch, South Woodham Ferrers, 2016

After doing a project on the River Crouch last year, I remember this point on the river rather well as we crossed it on a boat with the then Chairman of Rochford District Council, Heather Glynn. There were always swans there that just seem to glide from the Hullbridge side to the Woodham side in order to be fed by visitors, so thought I’d return a year later to see if they were still there.

They were, as were lots of sunbathers, people in campers, families eating ice creams, two people in wet-suits swimming and children crabbing. The only sound the swans made was a foot splash, as most of the time they were preening themselves, which is a rather quiet activity, but you can hear most of the other activities going on. Just at the end of this recording you can hear a huge muscle boat approaching… which signalled it was time to look/listen the other way.